


Halfway Respectable

by Jain



Category: Havemercy Series - Jaida Jones & Danielle Bennett
Genre: Community: ramanthin_roman, Established Relationship, M/M, POV Third Person, Past Tense
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-09-23
Updated: 2010-09-23
Packaged: 2017-10-27 03:15:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/291042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jain/pseuds/Jain
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the dissolution of the Dragon Corps, the airmen follow different paths.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Halfway Respectable

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [sweetjerry](http://sweetjerry.livejournal.com/). Story was written after the publication of _Shadow Magic_ and before _Dragon Soul_.

Adamo had heard that Rook was back in Thremedon, of course. His return was a nine days' wonder, and they were only on the seventh day. Gossip about the most notorious of th'Esar's Airmen was running wild; it seemed that half the city was trying to figure out what Rook's presence spelled politically, while the other half was holding its breath to see if Rook resumed the carousing and the more than occasional brawling that had contributed to his being a Thremedon institution in the first place.

So far, Rook had disappointed everyone's expectations. Which fact didn't, however, make his appearance at a tea party hosted by one of the members of the _ton_ anything short of unbelievable.

Adamo made his way carefully across the crowded salon to join Rook by the table of refreshments: a strange place to find him, given that most of the ladies were giving it a wide berth, not wanting to appear greedy.

"Hello, Rook," he offered, snagging a couple of the apple pastries while he was at it. "Wasn't expecting to see you here."

Rook snorted. "I wasn't expecting to _be_ here. Fucking _tea parties_. And it's not even real tea neither. Shouldn't winning the war mean we don't have to drink whatever shit the Ke-Han do?"

Adamo shrugged. "It's just a fad. People will get bored of it eventually." He took a sip from his own cup. "I actually think I like it," he added thoughtfully.

The expression of incredulous scorn on Rook's face wasn't exactly polite, but Adamo'd always concerned himself with what men did first, what they said second, and what they thought only third, if at all.

"If it's like the other tea parties I've been to, they'll start setting out wine in another hour or so," Adamo said.

Rook's sour look brightened considerably, though he said, "That's a long time to make a man wait for a drink."

"No arguments there. It might be better to cut your losses and duck out early, go to a bar where they'll serve you for more coin but less annoyance."

"Can't," Rook said. "Thom's here somewhere chatting up a publisher about this what's-it-called, modern history of Volstov, that he wrote while we were traveling together, and I need to be here to sweeten the deal if it looks like it might be necessary."

"Sweeten it how?"

"Thom says the publisher might be more interested if I agreed to write an introduction or something. I mean, I'd make Thom do most of the writing part, but I could look over whatever he wrote and make sure it didn't say anything stupid, and then just slapping my name on it and letting them print it like that might make the difference between a hundred and a thousand copies sold, Thom says. Or, you know, the publisher's even deciding to print the book at all."

"Not bad," Adamo said. "Just throw in a couple of speaking tours to promote the book, and you'll do even better for yourself, and then you'll have a halfway respectable job. I can't say I expected that to happen, the last time I saw you."

Anger sparked in Rook's eyes a moment, but then dampened just as abruptly. His lip curled slightly as he said, "Yeah, well, neither did I. But it turns out that even the kinds of bonuses you get awarded for saving the country run out eventually--"

"I've noticed that myself," Adamdo interjected.

"--and I'd rather do this than join the regular army or turn thief or dig ditches or whatever the fuck else I'm suited for."

"Fair enough," Adamo said.

"Yeah," Rook said, looking a little uncomfortable at having shared that much. A split second before he opened his mouth again, Adamo knew that Rook was going to say something mindbogglingly offensive to try to divert attention from that brief exchange of intimacies. Rook cooperated with Adamo's assessment and said, "So, how's the little wife?"

"He's fine," Adamo said evenly. "He'll be even better when he hears that I've beaten the shit out of you."

Rook held up his hands in mock surrender. "I didn't mean anything by it."

"Then don't say it."

Rook didn't bother to acknowledge that statement, but he turned the conversation to more innocuous topics and remained there for the rest of the party, which was almost as good as an apology.

The invitation that he extended to Adamo and Balfour to come to dinner at his and Thom's place later that week was _better_ than an apology, and Adamo readily accepted on his own behalf and promised to ask Balfour if he were free, as well. Adamo and Rook had never been friends, and likely never would become friends. But their conversation--which Adamo had begun half out of a misplaced sense of duty and half out of curiosity--had been surprisingly pleasant. Perhaps Rook's return to Thremedon would prove to be a good thing, after all.

* * *

Balfour had been at the same party, but of habit he and Adamo had avoided each other for most of the afternoon. The fact that Adamo had spent that time in Rook's company would only have given Balfour additional incentive to keep his distance. Adamo couldn't say he blamed him.

"Rook's invited us to join him and Thom for dinner this Thursday," he said when they were settled in front of the fire, jackets discarded and tight, fashionable shoes off. Balfour's dark eyes widened a little at that piece of information. "I'm planning on going, but I told Rook I'd have to check if you could make it."

"It would be good to see Thom again," Balfour said.

"Yeah, it would," Adamo agreed, though he'd had...what? maybe half a dozen conversations with the man. Still, when someone was largely responsible for helping save your country, it tended to make an impression.

"And if we bring along a bottle or two of wine to have with dinner, maybe Rook won't bother being too unpleasant," Balfour added with a somewhat excessive degree of optimism.

Adamo grinned at him and squeezed the hand that he held in his own, then gave in to impulse and kissed Balfour's soft, sweet mouth. "Stranger things have happened. Let me tell you about Rook's new career."


End file.
